Leading from a distance: Exploring leadership effectiveness and identity approaches when traditional teams are working from home

Abstract

The sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that enforced remote working changed the way organisations operate turning many face-to-face teams into virtual teams overnight with little warning. The digital transformation of work has changed the essence of how teams function which presents new leadership challenges as traditional leadership is deemed suboptimal for virtual environments. However, virtual leadership may not be a simple extension of traditional leadership practices suggesting new leadership skills are required to straddle the hybrid working model that fuses both virtual and in-person settings successfully. As studies in hybrid leadership are in short supply, this study explored how enforced remote working influenced leaders’ effectiveness and identity when managing traditional teams remotely, both of which play a critical role in performance. Data was collected from 12 semi-structured interviews with leaders to understand their experiences of leadership in this context by means of a qualitative, exploratory study. The findings suggest that leading with empathy through prioritising mental health and well-being of teams, being flexible in expectations of when and where work is conducted, embracing new technology and being the custodians of online tools and etiquette are some of the virtual leadership skills required. In addition, the findings suggest that leadership presence and influence is negatively influenced due to the lack of face-to-face engagements along with other known disadvantages of virtual teams. This study provides insights and recommendations for leading teams in hybrid environments, which is fast becoming the preferred way to work